Football Feuds

Nothing substantial to write about just figured almost two weeks is slacking...

I love having grown up in Tennessee and appreciate everything this great state has to offer...EXCEPT UT orange. Something about that color makes my stomach turn. Though I have grown tolerant of people's die-hard obsession with Rocky Top and Smokey, I secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy watching the frustration experienced when Crompton yet again throws an incomplete pass! Brutal? Just for proof, this picture is from tacky day during homecoming week in high school.

My love for the Gators has been embedded since birth. Born in Tampa with a dad and uncle who both graduated from Florida, it wasn't even a choice what colors you donned on Saturdays in the fall. Having been to two Gator National Championship victories, my love grows stronger everyday! :) The first was in 1996. Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It was the awkward years. 10 years old, walking Bourbon street with my father. What was my mother thinking? Here's a picture for comedic relief. Danny Wuerffel "7" on the cheek and a 52-20 victory over Florida State.

13 years later, I was back. A little less awkward this time (at least I hope). Thanks to one of the world's best uncles, my cousin Rachel and I got to spend a few days in Miami and celebrate with thousands of fellow Florida fans. Here's some more pictures...

2 Saturdays ago, Kyle and I survived our first UT/Florida game together. After much convincing and promising to be on my best behavior, he agreed that we could actually be in the same house while the game was on. Because my love for Florida far outweighs my hatred for UT football, I'm not a huuuuuge trash talker. So I kept quiet as Tebow made Crompton look like a pee-wee quarterback. I even made our friend Travis a birthday cake with a power T on it. Pretty big of me I must say.

Since then, school has kept me pretty occupied. But the end is in sight and it sure helps when you get some of these at the end of a long week...

Thanks Kyle! (Isn't he sweet???)

Headed to Starkville Thursday to spend some much needed QT with some very special people. And hopefully to see a Bulldog victory. With all that Gator talk, I guess I forgot to express my love for Mississippi State. Very proud of the way they held their own this past Saturday against LSU! GO DAWGS!

Proverbs: Friendship

Because I have a 45 minute or so drive to school in the mornings (it was either live with the madre and Mike or sink into unneeded debt) I like to make it somewhat worthwhile. I usually try to use that time to mentally and spiritually prepare myself for the day (or sometimes just to try to wake up). Lately I have been listening to Mark Driscoll sermons. He is one of the pastors at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He is a powerful deliverer of the Word of God and does not hold back. Very bold!

The sermon I listened to this morning came from a series on Proverbs and discussed friendship. These are just some notes I took as I listened (not while I was driving of course):

The definition he gives of friendship is this: "A trustworthy peer with whom we mutually choose to lovingly live with by seeking unique access and service for God's glory and our mutual good."

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This means that "friends" should mutually choose to be friends. That we seek the well-being of our friends. It is intentional. While circumstances may bring you together, your friendship exists outside of them. Classmates, co-workers, family members, etc do not necessarily equal friends. While they may be wonderful relationships, they may not be friends. Friends are able to get ahold of you at any time of the day; they can call, text, email, or just drop by. Not everyone in your life gets that special access. Our friendships should glorify God and better who we are.

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He jokingly refers to Facebook friends. Do you really have 1,057 "friends"?
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It is important for us 1) to be good friends and 2) choose good friends.
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I immediately thought about my friends and then quickly changed my focus to the kind of friend I am.
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Proverbs speaks well of the benefits of a Godly friend. "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise but the companion of fools will suffer harm." Friends either help or harm. How do I affect my friends? How do you affect yours?
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Proverbs 16:28 "A dishonest man spreads strife and a whisperer separates close friends." Don't pick someone who is dishonest as a friend. And don't be a dishonest friend. Gossip (something I am still overcoming over the years) separates friends. Don't be a whisperer. They throw matches, ignite the flame, and watch it burn.

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Another important thing to remember in friendships, like in any relationship, is grace. People have bad days. We don't get enough sleep, we have five tests in one week, our family is dysfunctional, whatever it is. Everyone deserves a hall pass every once in a while. Let's not be so quick to rebuke (though they are times when it's necessary, coming later in post) each other when we aren't Mr./Ms. Bright and Shiny all the time. Grace.
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There are those friends who are ALWAYS optimistic, always cheerful, always "look at bright side." This can be painful. There are certain times where we need our friends to hurt with us when we hurt. There are friends who are the devoted friends, the ones who when we need a friend the most, they are there. When crisis comes, they are there! "A brother is born for adversity." This is how you know who your true friends are. When adversity hits you, who is there? And when your "friends" experience adversity, where are you? There?

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"There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Only a handful. We are blessed to have one or two (some may have more, but only a few when you really think about it). It's not bad to have lots of people you know, but it's better to have a few close friends you can count on.
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Proverbs 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend..." We tend to think that people who rebuke us, confronts us, point out sin in our life aren't really our friends. Wounds from friends are not used to destroy, but to sanctify. Carefully chosen words to show concern for our friends' lives are for love, not for hurt. If they are our true friend, we should listen... If two sinners are going to be friends, they have to be honest and occasionally "wound" one another, not to destroy but to heal. Takes much love to be able to do this...Tough huh???
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Questions to ponder:

1. How is Jesus a real friend to us? Do we even see Him as that? Does He not perfectly exemplify the definition of friendship?

2. How can we be a better friend and to whom?

3. Who if anyone would you consider a good friend to you and why? (Maybe let 'em know! )

4. Who do we need to be pursuing more intentionally?

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I pray that I can be, become, whatever, this type of friend that closely portrays the above-mentioned definition of a friend. If I'm not, "wound" me. Please.

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Here are a just a few pictures of a few of my friends:

Amber and I

Kate and IMeg and I
Laura, Suzanne, Kimberly, Me, Natalie, Alicia, CarlyRachel, Suzanne, Me, and AliciaSpringer and I

Rachael and I

Told You I Could Procrastinate...

It's 9:05 on Monday night and I should be studying for my integumentary exam that I have at 8:00 tomorrow morning...Clearly I'm concerned. With only 10 actual days of class and exams left, you would think that I could find the desire and motivation to finish with that "gung ho" attitude I started school with, but for the first time in the past two years of PT school I am finding myself the most relaxed and carefree as I have ever been. (Springer, don't judge my run-on sentence)

The weekend was great! Friday night, Kyle and I cooked dinner...Actually, I cooked dinner. As pathetic as it is, I am 24 years old and just now learning how to navigate the kitchen. After living in the Phi Mu house for 4 years and then moving back in with the parentals during PT school, I have never been forced to have to fend for myself. Spoiled, maybe. Blessed, absolutely. So I have taken it upon myself to learn to cook (at my mother's checkbook's expense). It was incredibley easy which is great for this reservation-making girl. Kraft.com has the answer for everything...Literally took 35 minutes, prep time and all. We ate the WHOLE thing between the two of us! But we put all those calories into good use after and cleaned Kyle's entire house... Even though he does a good job of keeping things pretty tidy, the house just needed some PineSol and Tilex. Looked and smelled much better when we got done! After that we just bummed around, in a dust free house :)

Saturday was a typical fall Saturday, football! Gators demolished Troy! But then came disappointment. The Bulldogs who teased their fans in the first and part of the second quarter, failed to pull out a victory. Needless to say Mississippi State alum were disappointed, though this isn't our first rodeo. I am slowly becoming tolerant to Tennessee football (horrible, I know) and even experienced my first trip to Big Orange Country (insert gag sound here) last weekend. And just like my Bulldogs, after a big first game win, the Vols were defeated...Saturday night found a few of us at Pit and Josh's wedding. It was so great to get to spend some much needed time with some not-so-old friends who I don't get to see anywhere near as much as I would like to. It's sad that one of my best friends, Alicia (pictured left), is in the same building as I am studying her life away everyday, yet we hardly ever get to spend time together. Two professional students=loss of QT. Hurts my heart. Getting to spend time with Suzanne, Claire, Kimberly, Natalie, Carly, Kyleen, Rachael, Amy Grace, Anna, Elizabeth, and Pit the bride (I think I got everyone) was wonderful! Wish our whole pledge class could have been there! Times were we can all be together are few and far between and to be able to get together whenever possible is worth the effort.

Sunday, like every other Sunday, is just the icing on the cake to a good weekend. It never ceases to amaze me how easily God speaks to you when you just open your ears and heart. Memphis is so blessed to have such a powerful presence of the Gospel in Fellowship Memphis. I cannot explain to anyone the overwhelming (in the positive sense) worship experience that can be found in this church. This past Sunday, one of the pastors, Bryan, started a new series entitled Lost. This series is entirely focused on sin. Not a subject that every church or pastor is willing to go elbow deep into. But that's exactly what I love about this church. I have never been more challenged to grow in my faith and to speak out about my faith as I have since attending Fellowship. This week's sermon was called "Naughty By Nature" (not the 90's rap group). It was one of the sermons where even though the pastor is pacing the entire length of the stage, you can't help but feel like he is staring at you the whole time. My spiritual life my senior year of college was a roller coaster. My heart's desire was to be an example of the love of Christ and to show others what living in relationship with Christ could offer. But more times than I'd like to admit, my actions were not reflective of that, and for that I apologize to all who my actions affected. Sunday's sermon spoke right to this! As humans, we were not born into this world as good people. Because of one man's (Adam) sin, every child born after came with a sin nature. Wayne Grudem states that "sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, and nature." For so long I always compared my actions to those of others thinking "Well, as long as I am not doing THAT..." Completely wrong mentality. Bryan explained that so many people in today's society have taken God's standard of living He expects from us and dumbed it down to the standards of other people. We have gone from a vertical standard to a horizontal standard. Rather than being concerned with being accepted by my peers, friends, family, whoever, and in turn judging others, it is far more important and valuable for me to be concerned with pleasing God. It is by His judgement that determines my eternal life, not those of this world.

Romans 2:1-3 "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgement of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who do such tings and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgement of God?"

Only 9 1/2 more hours til my test. Better get to cramming...

Wex

Blogging Challenged

Sooooo I consider myself to be an intelligent person who knows enough about computers to figure this whole blogging thing out. But I have no idea what I am doing...So if anyone can give some tips (in lay terms) that would be great!

First and foremost, I must thank Springer for the clever and witty title. Wexercise Daily. As a physical therapy student, it's appropriate. Although exercise is not something I ascribe to daily, a day in a Wex world can leave one just as exhausted.

This little new hobby is purely for satisfying my procrastination needs. I have three weeks left until no more sitting in class from 8:00 to 5:00, no more studying for two tests a week (on a good week), and no more freaking out about practicals. So if you are looking for humor and wit, you may not find it here. Allow me to lead you to http://www.firstofspring.blogspot.com/ for that.

If I can successively procrastinate a little, keep friends informed on my life, and possibly share some enlightment along the way, then I consider the mission accomplished.

Until next time:
"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

Wex